Set in the fields of Devon and the WW1 battlefields of Flanders, two brothers fall for the same girl while contending with the pressures of their feudal family life, the war, and the price of courage and cowardice.
There isn’t enough that’s vital or fresh about Private Peaceful to make it noteworthy.
It’s left to the leads to keep us engaged, a tall order given their film’s old-fashioned, fusty feel.
Pat O’Connor gives the story a sturdy if rather old-fashioned treatment.
It’s nothing that hasn’t been seen in dozens of better dramas.
Minor pacing gripes aside, this is a moving tale about humanity’s darkest depths.
Private Peaceful is a small-scale story in essence, which works efficiently on the non-epic scale in which it's presented.
Deja vu.
With the feel of prestige telly, it's nicely done, sweet and moving.
MacKay and Jack O'Connell give affecting performances, though the film is sluggish in its early stages and cartoonish about the class struggle.
Class conflict, broken hearts, self-sacrifice and the muddy, senseless folly of war are all lightly touched upon in a starchy, old-fashioned drama.
This is warfare and poverty recast as snug escapism: a very Heartbeat kind of heartbreak.
It's well meaning, episodic and destined to be shown in school history lessons.
It's perhaps more TV than cinema, but O'Connor directs with a firm hand, and children will learn valuable lessons from it.
General release. Check local listings for show times.